i'm so sorry that you are seeing what you are. none of us that aren't there can fathom the emotional, mental,and physical stress you are under. my husband and i evacuated to oklahoma. he is a cb and is on his way back to help. his name is cliff ainsworth. your blog helped us to get in touch with the folks on the base through texting. i am trying to get peaple here to donate things for mississippi. let me know what is needed. my email is crystalaspyn@yahoo.com thank you guys and we love you all.

An eighteen wheeler and three trucks are leaving Sunday from Springfield, TN enroute to LSU to bring aid. It all began with one simple email that has been past around.God bless and may all your needs be met VERY SOON.A Volunteer In TN.

This is both scary and amazing. It must be quite something for you to report on all this from where you are! We've had some flooding, here in Switzerland, last week, but really nothing close to what you've experienced! I feel actually appalled at the lack of preparation from the US authorities for such disaster! As Chavez asked, how come there was no evacuation plan, when these regions regularly get hit by hurricanes and other natural disasters? The fact that they cramed 30'000 people in a dome with no food, water or medical supplies!! I just couldn't believe it!! It looks even more amateur than the actions taken by underdevelopped countries facing such types of crisis! Americans always talk about community: community this, community that! Where was the so-called community when tens of thausands of people couldn't run away from the endangered places because they had no transportation means and not enough money?? Really, I feel very sad and somewhat angered, although I'm certainly not directly concerned, as I'm witnessing all this through the media some 5'000 or 6'000 km away, in my comfortable lounge, in a safe place in Switzerland! All I can do is hope that those who have survived so far can make it through as safely as possible and that solidarity will wake up and prevail. But the inhabitants of these regions will certainly be traumatized for a very long time. Life is really hard sometimes...

I certainly hope a lesson was learned. The coastline needs to be restored to a natural state. Those who rebuild will only be gluttons for punishment when the next hurricane arrives.New Orleans should be slowly dismanteled and moved to the north in a safer place, rather than set up for a replay of this horrible disaster.Our prayers go out to all affected.

listen peaple, i am tired of hearing: "those peaple deserved it they knew this could happen." and "their idiots for not evecuating". my response is that no one deserves this. why do the peaple in the midwest live there with tornados? why do peaple live along the pacific coast with earthquakes? why do peaple live in the northeast with whiteouts? or arizona with the killer heat? why? because it's home. many people who stayed live paycheck to paycheck. katrina hit in between pay periods. they had no money for gas, and the closest available hotel was hundreds of miles away. we stood in line at the western union at win dixie in orange grove for an hour and a half.as we were walking out the door the cashier told the rest of the line that she was closing and couldn't help them. it's easy to sit in your airconditioned house with a full stomach and a cold drink and pass judgement. THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK

I live in the midwest, and there isn't even a 5% chance of getting hit by a tornado. But if one comes, you don't go out and chill, you get out of the way and get in the basement. You don't just ignore the warning.

And this hurricane was said to have an almost 100% chance of hitting the city. A tornado is nothing compared to this, this is a historic-level natural disaster threatening to wipe out an entire city. Evacuation orders like this NEVER happen, and in this case it was echoed by the president himself.

My heart goes out to those who could not leave, for physical or financial reasons. This is a horrible tradgedy to be stuck in.

But to all of those who wanted to sell a book for profit, become internet stars, or just didn't feel like leaving, I am horrified that there has been such a preventable loss of life.

What ticks me off is the total lack of leadership in New Orleans from the parish presidents up to the governor and senators of Louisiana. Everyone is taking the "don't blame me blame the other guy" attitude instead of taking the bull by the horns dealing with the it. It would be nice to have a fleet of buses but if you don't then adapt. Grab semi-trucks. The "Big Easy" has finally unmasked itself as the Big Sleazy with ineffectual leadership.

Mississippi on the otherhand, while having problems, still has a can do attitude from its leadership.

Thank you for sharing, and the picture of you mooning made my day. I've donated but money and goods, but I wish where I am, Portland, Oregon, wasn't so far away so I could take people in and be more hands on. You've taken some wonderful pictures. Thank you again and all my thoughts are with you!

i live in foley,al which is just acros the bay from mobile,we got rain,wind trees snapped,but was only without power for 3days so trust me when i say i feel so very blessed,we stayed during and left for dennis,wish we had left for katrina durning ivan my grandbaby was 3wks old shes now 1 and she was very scared she knew something was going on..i again have to thank GOD that we are ok,you know i understand the looting of basic needs like diapers and food but GUNS? I ahev a friend that has a son who is in the gaurd and is going to new orleans i sent him an e-mail saying forget the gators look out for the gangs!!!By the way I must say the pics are good but so very surreal...and glad yall are ok

You might want to consider enabling 'word verification' by going to your template page and clicking on the 'comments' icon. if you enable word verification, you can virtually eliminate the spammers that are attacking your site.

In addition, you might want to go back to your '7:52 CDT" post and delete BC87's posts - if you click on his link, you are going to find out the guy is a real moron.

I feel for the folks who are suffering for lack of means to leave, for those who "stuck it out", and are now suffering, you deserve it, and I wish I could direct my Red Cross donation to those who heeded the evacuation warnings.